NAR-Funded Nonprofit Favors Republican Groups

The National Association of Realtors is a lobbying giant that touts its political spending as party-neutral. But a nonprofit affiliated with its massive political action committee appears to lean right.

The latest tax records for the organization, known as the American Property Owners Alliance, show the nonprofit handed out $12.8 million in grants during its first four years, with $10 million of the total directed to Republican- and conservative-associated groups, according to an investigation by the New York Times.

“The Alliance was given control over what is basically a slush fund,” Tony Mancuso, former president of the group’s Washington D.C. chapter, told the publication. “But the money in that account is our dues money.”

The nonprofit is entirely funded by the 1.5 million-member trade association, which founded the group in 2020. It has since remained relatively unknown among NAR’s members. Its spending stands in contrast to NAR’s PAC, which splits its contributions evenly among groups on both sides of the aisle.

Though the group claims its mission is to promote the rights of property owners, only one of the grant recipients, Americans for Tax Reform, states a similar directive in its goals. Others include groups with ties to controversial issues such as abortion rights, critical race theory and same-sex marriage.

“I’m horrified my dues money could be going to issues like that,” Allison Deutsch, an agent with New York-based Oxford Property Group, told the Times. “Critical race theory and abortion are completely irrelevant to the world of real estate. They should keep their nose out of it. They are a trade association.”

APOA and NAR declined to respond to the outlet’s questions about the recipients’ links to homeownership. In an article published in its Realtor magazine last month, NAR defended the group’s bipartisan claims, billing it as “one of the only nonprofit organizations focused exclusively on advancing private property rights and the interests of property owners in the country.”

A day after the article’s publication, NAR’s chief marketing and communications officer Suzanne Bouhia sent an email to leadership warning of a forthcoming story from the Times about APOA and what she called a “false claim that NAR is a partisan organization with a right-leaning agenda.”

More than half of APOA’s spending, about $7 million, went to One Nation, a “dark money” group linked to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The nonprofit is among the chief contributors to the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC dedicated to electing Republicans to the Senate.

Among the initiatives listed on One Nation’s website are tax reform, supporting victims of sexual assault and cutting back on government spending, though it includes a link to a report advocating against teaching critical race theory in schools. The group also donates to two anti-abortion groups, the Susan B. Anthony List and the National Right to Life.

Though APOA has spent significantly more money on Republican-aligned groups, it did give $3 million to House Majority Forward, a major contributor to the Democratic House Majority PAC, which aims to put Democrat candidates in Congress.

Three nonprofit lawyers told the Times that the group’s giving could land it under the microscope of the Internal Revenue Service, which requires tax-exempt social welfare nonprofits like APOA to distribute grants to initiatives focused on public good.

The group doesn’t appear to have a formal application process for prospective grant recipients. A spokesperson for APOA told the Times that the nonprofit “evaluates groups that are committed to advancing pro-housing solutions” and that the board selects recipients.

In a statement, APOA said it “has acted in a manner consistent with that of a section 501(c) (4) advocacy organization,” and that its grants “advance APOA’s own agenda and, while not direct program activity, advance the interest of property owners and their rights.”

— Sheridan Wall